Halyk Bank Approved to Acquire 49% of Click for $176 Mln

Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank has received regulatory approval to acquire a stake in Uzbekistan’s leading payment company Click, according to a decision by the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of Kazakhstan.

The agreement, first reported in July, sets out that Halyk Bank will purchase 49% of Click’s shares for $176.4 mln. As part of a reciprocal arrangement, Click will acquire 49% of Tenge Bank, Halyk Bank’s Uzbek subsidiary, for $60.7 mln. Both transactions remain subject to final approval from Uzbekistan’s Central Bank and its Competition Development Committee, as well as relevant Kazakh regulators.

Halyk Bank is Kazakhstan’s largest universal commercial bank, headquartered in Almaty. Its services include insurance, leasing and investment solutions. Last year the bank reported profits of 921 bn tenge ($1.68 bn), a 32.8% increase compared to the previous year.

Kursiv also reports that Global South Utilities (GSU), an Abu Dhabi-based energy company, announced it has finalised the acquisition of a 51% stake in Uzbekistan’s Yashil Energiya.